Also failed to notice how his predecessor misled the Prime Minister Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal might have termed the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG)'s calculation of loss to the exchequer from underpricing of 2G spectrum “utterly erroneous,” but he has completely ignored other scenarios presented by the auditor where new operators made crores by selling their stakes to global telecom giants or were themselves ready to pay more...
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Plan for rail routes to link wholesale markets
The government is planning to launch a dedicated horticulture rail transport system by March with an Investment of over Rs 18 crore that will link the wholesale markets of the country. The aim is to reduce the wastage of surplus fruits and vegetables informed a senior official . "We have sent a proposal to the agriculture ministry for approval and are expecting to launch the trial run in two months, sometime...
More »Bring PPP projects under RTI: CIC by Nidhi Sharma
The Central Information Commission (CIC), the final appellate authority for the Right to Information (RTI) Act, has asked the Planning Commission to include disclosure norms in all future public-private-partnership (PPP) projects undertaken by the Centre and the state governments. Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra has written to Planning Commission deputy-chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to incorporate disclosure norms, so that any project which has the participation of private firms and concessionaires come...
More »Sibal builds 2G maximum-welfare case
Telecom minister Kapil Sibal today termed “utterly erroneous, baseless and sensational” the government auditor’s estimate that the alleged 2G scam resulted in a presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore. Sibal gave a detailed explanation of the priorities that drove the telecom policy and the benefits over the years to “the aam aadmi” — something his predecessor A. Raja did not or could not articulate till now. Drawing a parallel with free...
More »Rural job scheme minimum wage revised, risking inflation spiral by Ruhi Tewari & Asit Ranjan Mishra
In a move that brings relief to the rural workforce, but risks creating an inflation spiral, the government on Thursday revised the minimum wages paid for its flagship job guarantee scheme by linking them to the Consumer Price Index for agricultural labour (CPI-AL) for each individual state. Such a price spiral, in case it actually emerges, could roil the electoral prospects of the Congress in the key contests to the state...
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